Terry Anderson cites a study looking into how much time it takes to teach an online course. In a table of results (that is consistent with my own experience) almost half the time is taken up in grading and assessment. As someone who has faced the dreaded 'cubic foot of papers to grade' I can certainly attest to this. Anderson writes, "I am hopeful that steady progress in machine marking and faculty use of tools like audio marking and templated responses, will be able to both reduce this time and allow for more formative and summative feedback for students."